paille

\paj\

/\paj\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“paille” has 6 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #6,119. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,119
frequency rank, French
6,826
“P” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Tige et épi du blé, du seigle, de l’orge, le riz, etc., quand le grain en a été séparé.

Corpus desk

Index FR-paille · paille · French

paille · rank #6,119 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,119
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,826
  • PHOTO-FINISH noyau

Nearest frequency peer: noyau (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « paille »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « paille » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

paille vs pile
67% similar
paille vs parlé
50% similar
paille vs paire
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for paille
PropertyValue
Headwordpaille
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\paj\
Letters6
Frequency rank#6,119
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « paille »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).paillese place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « noyau » (#6,118), « panier » (#6,120), « Norvège » (#6,117). Parmi 6,826 lemmes en « P », « paille » est au #6,119. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around paille (IPA \paj\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #6,119 among 6,826 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for paille, with forms such as "apille", "paile", and "pailel". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "pile", "parlé", "paire", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is paille, spelled P-A-I-L-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Tige et épi du blé, du seigle, de l’orge, le riz, etc., quand le grain en a été séparé.
  2. 2
    La balle du grain que l’on en sépare par le van ou par le crible.
  3. 3
    Petit tube servant à aspirer un liquide.
  4. 4
    Défaut de liaison dans la fusion des métaux qui fragilise la pièce.
  5. 5
    Défaut qui se trouve quelquefois dans les pierreries, principalement dans les diamants, et qui en diminue l’éclat.
  6. 6
    Rien, vétille, peu de chose.
  7. 7
    Poussière, limaille.
  8. 8
    Paille de bitte : Tige métallique mobile, traversant le haut d’une bitte d’amarrage et destinée à empêcher les cordages de décapeler.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how paille appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Devant chaque porte se trouvait une botte de paille, pour empêcher le froid de passer dessous.
  2. Les pailles, dont les couches épaisses recouvraient entièrement le sol de la cour, se doraient peu à peu d'un jaune pâle sous la lueur grandissante du crépuscule.

Synonyms

défautcrapaud

This word in other languages

straw(English)paja(Español)Stroh(Deutsch)palha(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • apille
  • paile
  • pailel
  • palile
  • pialle
  • ppaille

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of paille - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

apille2paile1pailel2palile2pialle2ppaille1
Edit distance from "paille"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "paille"?
"paille" is spelled P-A-I-L-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is \paj\.
What does "paille" mean?
As a noun, "paille" means: Tige et épi du blé, du seigle, de l’orge, le riz, etc., quand le grain en a été séparé.
What words are commonly confused with "paille"?
"paille" is commonly confused with "pile", "parlé", "paire". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "paille"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "paille" is \paj\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "paille" come from?
"paille" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "paille", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

panier#6,120people#6,123plages#6,125pouces#6,126

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

noyau6 variantshôte6 variantsfred6 variantsfaune6 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list